Corona Devotionals

I like words.   I just do.   And some words are just… fun , like the word “paradox”.   It is fun to pronounce, and it is even more fun to try and define.    par·a·dox ( noun):  a seemingly absurd   or self-contradictory statement or proposition   that when investigated or explained may prove to be well founded or true ( Oxford Langua ges Dictionary )  We know a paradox when we hear it or see it, don't we?   For instance, can we love someone so deeply  that we would want to punish them?   Sounds cruel. Or does it?   Perhaps it's a paradox, because i t seems contradictory , doesn't it?  ...Loving so much that we would punish ?   But then I picture a small child about to touch a hot stove.  Grabbing them out of harm's way would be the first order of business, but teaching and disciplining ("punishing") in order to correct and instruct them  not to go near  a hot stove in the futur...

When I was a mom of three young kids, my parents ordered me a monthly subscription to Good Housekeeping .  During such a busy and exhausting time of my life, that magazine was like a paperback vacation sometimes.  Short, quick stories, anecdotes and even advertisements could sweep me away, ground me, or encourage me in a moment when I needed it.   One of my favorite page-sections in the magazine was entitled "Good enough  Housekeeping", and it had tips and tricks and even short-cuts for handling things around the house quickly or mostly ...if time or energy didn't allow for the complete and thorough job. What a relief it can be to know that all that we have  is enough sometimes, even if it is not a lot. Better than a magazine...the Bible provides us with God's tips for life and He understands us  and the demands on our lives, hearts, and minds.  He knows  us and He loves us , even when our offering is less than robust. “Come to me, all y...

I'd love to meet my hero...how about you? When you were a kid, who was your hero?  Did you ever dream of meeting them?   Do we have a modern-day hero? Ever dreamt of meeting him or her?  What would it be like?  What might we say?  What would  they  say?   I feel like I have gotten to meet one of my today-heroes.   For the past three years, for a few days in August my husband and I have been blessed to visit The Cove in North Carolina and sit under the teaching (and humor and humility) of Will Graham (grandson of Billy and Ruth Graham, and son of Franklin and Jane Graham).   In terms of God-fearing and God-sharing families, the Graham’s are an amazing example of what lives lived to honor the Lord can look like, and being in seminar with Will Graham is like meeting one of my heroes. But childhood heroes, sports stars, and Hollywood personalities aside...what if we could meet our ultimate hero: Jesus Christ? What if… WHAT IF… ...

It is Winter in Ohio...and so there are no leaves on the trees.  Bare and bald trunks and branches stand naked in lines and clusters along the freeway, waiting for Spring buds and soon-to-come (Spring-to-come) green-leafed coverings.  The trees are brownish-gray and completely barren.  Without leaves, there is nothing much to see with them. Except hawks. I keep a hopeful eye out for hawks while on freeway drives throughout the entire year, but never are they more visible than when a tree's leaves have been stripped from its limbs. As we motored down the highway and zoomed-by tree after tree, I think I counted ten hawks during a forty-minute drive yesterday.   In Spring and Summer and even Fall, they perch hidden among the foliage, but in Winter, their white hawk-chests give them away long before our vehicle passes them.   The unleafed trees provide visibility to the hawk's beauty. The starkness allows for (makes-room-for) the revealing ...

Lord, I came to You crying.  Tears of empathy and sympathy and sincerity fell from my eyes and dripped from my heart.   Some of my loved ones are suffering.  The pain is real: physical pain, emotional anguish, and spiritual pain too. The pain. The pain. The pain.  Do you hear me, Lord?  I am hurting.  I am crying out for others who are hurting.   Pain, pain, pain of this world.   It is real and palpable, and almost unbearable today. " Help, Lord! ", I cried in tears, and prayers, and in journaled-ink. Don't You hear me, Father?  I am beseeching You in every way that I know how to bring relief to my loved ones...and to me. Won't you respond?  Won't You comfort?  Won't You console?  Won't You direct? But the Psalm that God laid in front of me did not apply .  Did not soothe.  Did not hear me. I was heavy.   Low.    ..Burdened with the burdens of others and of the world, and I wanted ...